Disciples show love to
themselves because they
are temples of God
Are we supposed to love ourselves? You won’t find a bible quote for it. The bible denounces self-love (2 Tim 3:2) and self-importance (Philippians 2:3). But God does advocate a sense of worth (you are worth more than many sparrows – Matthew 10:31).
If you agree with God, the end result is a sense of self-worth. But what about loving oneself?
As followers of Jesus, we’re taught to care for others as we care for ourselves—clearly a form of love. Jesus even uses the word love to express such actions when quoting Leviticus 19:18: "Love your neighbor as yourself".
Your Biblical Identity in Christ
1 Corinthians 6:12-20
Sexual Immorality
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
~ Apostle Paul
12 “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything. 13 You say, “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.” The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14 By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. 15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! 16 Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.” 17 But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit.
18 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. 19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
• In Christ, My body is a temple for the Holy Spirit, whom I received from God. I am not my own, but was bought at the price of Jesus’ life. I therefore honor God with my body.
Pondering Point
Today we hear Saint Paul’s call to honor the Lord with our bodies. He goes so far as to say that you are not your own, but were bought with a price, alluding to Jesus’ costly death. This teaching from God flies in the face of today’s talk of “its my body and I can do whatever I want.” As with all things, we are to honor God above ourselves – body included. You were bought – not by a man (at least not by a mere man), but bought by God – the God-man Jesus Christ. Some of you may be familiar with the hymn lyrics penned by Isaac Watts, so titled by its first line. Here are the first and last lines.
“When I survey the wondrous cross…
– demands my soul, my life, my all.”
Prayer Prompt
Find a copy of Watts’ hymn When I Survey the Wondrous Cross or Chris Tomlin’s version The Wonderful Cross.
Read it. Meditate on it. Listen to it. Sing it. Pray it.
Use it to connect with Father God and offer once again to honor God with your body.
When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died
My richest gain I count but loss
And pour contempt on all my pride
See from His head, His hands, His feet
Sorrow and love flow mingled down
Did ever such love and sorrow meet
Or thorns compose so rich a crown
Oh, the wonderful cross, oh, the wonderful cross
Bids me come and die and find that I may truly live
Oh, the wonderful cross, oh, the wonderful cross
All who gather here by grace draw near
and bless Your name
Were the whole realm of nature mine
That were an offering far too small
Love so amazing, so divine
Demands my soul, my life, my all
Songwriters:
Chris Tomlin / Jesse Pryor Reeves / J.d. Walt
The Wonderful Cross lyrics
© Worshiptogether.com Songs, Sixsteps
Music, Vamos Publishing
Source: Musixmatch
VERSE 1
When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.
VERSE 2
Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast
Save in the death of Christ, my God.
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.
VERSE 3
See, from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down.
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?
VERSE 4
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small.
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.
Original words by Isaac Watts (1707, 1709).
Music by Lowell Mason (1824). Public Domain.
Sovereign Grace Music, a division of
Sovereign Grace Churches.
www.SovereignGraceMusic.org